User guidance system in a pay point network

ABSTRACT

A system is provided for guiding a user in a network of pay points delivering goods or services, such as parking ticket dispensers for paying parking fees. The system includes a first means for supplying to the user information on the location of the machine (X).

The present invention relates to a user guidance system in a pay pointnetwork and in particular a network of parking pay points. The presentinvention relates more particularly to a guidance system intended toenable a user to find a pay point easily.

Thanks to a system of the above kind, a motorist who has parked hisvehicle in a parking space for which a parking fee is payable is able tofind his vehicle if he forgets where it is parked or wishes to return tohis vehicle by the shortest route.

The present invention also relates to the means employed by said systemof the invention. In this regard, the present invention relates moreparticularly to the pay points used and in particular to on-streetvehicle parking pay points.

For many years, parking motor vehicles in towns has been subject to thepayment of a parking fee. To leave his vehicle in a parking space, amotorist must prepay an amount corresponding to the chosen parking time.

To occupy a parking space for which a parking fee is payable, the usermust therefore pay a parking fee at an appropriate pay point. Pay pointsof this kind are better known as parking meters or parking ticketdispensers.

The parking meter system consists in a machine in which motoristswishing to park must pay an amount corresponding to the required parkingtime by means of coins, cards, etc. A display mechanism on the machinethen displays a pointer corresponding to the parking time that has beenpaid for. This pointer then moves backwards as time passes. It is simpleto monitor a system of this kind since it is sufficient for parkingwardens to note the position of the pointer to tell if the vehicleoccupying the space controlled by the machine in question is legallyparked or not.

In the case of parking ticket dispensers, in return for payment for therequired parking time by means of coins, appropriate payment cards,mobile telephones, etc., the user receives a ticket carrying printedinformation and in particular the time until which parking isauthorized. The user must place this ticket visibly behind thewindshield of his vehicle. Parking wardens then check that parked carsare displaying a ticket and note the parking expiry time indicated onthe ticket.

Whichever type of pay point is used (parking meter or parking ticketdispenser), the user's vehicle is always in the immediate vicinity of,meaning less than a hundred meters away from, the machine used to paythe parking fee.

Finally, sooner or later, the user must return to his vehicle or pay anew amount before the parking time already paid for expires if hisvehicle is not to be illegally parked and attract a fine.

The user therefore has to remember where he parked his vehicle. Becauseof the increasing size of modern towns, it happens increasingly oftenthat a user is unable to remember very clearly where he left hisvehicle.

This phenomenon is even more accentuated when the user is in a townother than his home town, or even abroad, and is therefore unfamiliarwith the local topography.

The present invention therefore proposes to assist a user who has used apay point to pay a parking fee to find his vehicle. The inventionassists the user to find where his vehicle is parked.

According to the invention, the system for guiding a user in a networkof pay points delivering goods or services, such as parking ticketdispensers for paying parking fees, is characterized in that some or allof the machines on the network comprise first means for supplying to theuser information on the location of said machines.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,said means of the machines of the network for supplying the user withlocation information cooperate with payment means of said machines sothat said location information is not supplied to the user until apayment for goods or services has been effected at said machines.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the information on the location of the machines of the network consistsin a unique identification code for each machine.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the information on the location of a machine is printed on a ticketissued by printing means of said machine.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,some or all of the machines adapted to supply to the user information onthe location of the machines include appropriate writing means fortransferring said information on the location of said machines into theappropriate memories of a contact or contacts type microprocessor cardof the user, such as a payment card.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,some or all of the machines adapted to supply to the user information onthe location of the machines include appropriate radio-frequencytransmission means for transferring said information on the location ofsaid machines by radio into the memories of a suitable terminal of theuser, such as a mobile telephone, for example in the form of a voicetelephone call, or in the form of a text message such as an SMS textmessage or an e-mail.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,some or all of the machines of the network include second means forsupplying guidance information enabling the user to go from said machineto any other machine of said network, said second means includingacquisition means for acquiring information on the location of saidother machine supplied by the user.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the means of a first machine of the network for providing guidanceinformation for going from said first machine to a second machine ofsaid network cooperate with payment means of said machine so that saidguidance information is supplied to the user only after a payment for aservice of this kind has been effected at said first machine.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the acquisition means include a man-machine interface, such as a keypad,on which said user may enter information on the location of a machine towhich he wishes to go.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the acquisition means include a microprocessor card reader forrecovering said information on the location of a machine in theappropriate memories of a contact or contactless type microprocessorcard of the user, such as a payment card.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the acquisition means include appropriate radio-frequency receivingmeans for downloading by radio said information on the location of amachine from a suitable communication terminal of the user, such as amobile telephone, for example in the form of an SMS message.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the guidance information for going to a machine of the network isprinted on a ticket issued by printing means of said machine supplyingthe guidance information.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the guidance information for going to a machine of the network isdisplayed on an appropriate screen of said machine supplying theguidance information.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the guidance information for going to a machine of the network iscommunicated by voice synthesis means of said machine supplying theguidance information.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,some or all of the machines supplying guidance information includeappropriate radio-frequency transmitting means for sending said guidanceinformation for going to a machine of the network to a suitable terminalof the user, such as a mobile telephone, for example in the form of avoice telephone call, or in the form of a text message such as an SMStext message or an e-mail.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the location and/or guidance information comprises the address of saidmachine.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the location and/or guidance information comprises a map of theneighborhood of said machine.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the guidance information comprises a description of one or more paths tothe machine to which the user wishes to return from the machinesupplying the information.

According to another feature of the guidance system of the invention,the guidance information comprises a map of one or more paths to themachine to which the user wishes to return from the machine supplyingthe information.

The objects, aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeclear from the following description of embodiments of the inventiongiven by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the appendeddrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a pay point network employing the method of theinvention.

FIG. 1, in which only elements needed to understand the inventionappear, shows two pay points X and Y which in this instance are parkingticket dispensers. These parking ticket dispensers X and Y belong to anetwork of parking ticket dispensers meshing a built-up area and managedby an operator such as a private organization or a municipal authority.The same network may comprise from several dozen to several thousandparking ticket dispensers according to the size of the town or built-uparea concerned. The use of parking ticket dispensers as pay points isobviously not limiting on the present invention.

In streets in which parking has to be paid for, parking ticketdispensers are disposed along the pavement at regular intervals, forexample every fifty meters.

The parking ticket dispensers X and Y comprise means for implementingthe essential functions of a parking ticket dispenser, that is to saypayment means, such as a card reader with electronic memory ormicrocontroller and/or a coin or token handling device, informationentry means, such as a keypad or a thumbwheel, associated with a displayscreen, in particular for selecting the parking time, printing means, inparticular for printing parking tickets to be placed behind thewindshield of parked vehicles, a time generator, electrical power supplymeans, etc. A central unit or microcontroller with appropriate softwarecontrols the operation of the parking ticket dispenser and its variousperipherals.

All the means cited above are known in the art and will not be describedin more detail.

According to the invention, the microcontrollers of the parking ticketdispensers X and Y are equipped with a dedicated program for determininginformation necessary for locating the parking ticket dispensers andsupplying that information to the user. Executing this programcorresponds to executing the method of the invention.

A user who has parked his vehicle in a space where a parking fee ispayable goes to the nearest parking ticket dispenser X in order to paythe parking fee. When the step of paying the parking fee has beencompleted, the parking ticket dispenser X offers the user thepossibility of locating the parking ticket dispenser.

Selection of this location service by the user pressing a button or akey of the keypad provided for this purpose starts execution of theprogram cited above.

The location program then determines the information necessary for thelocation process, for example the number of the building and the name ofthe street where the parking ticket dispenser X is situated; thisinformation is simply stored in a non-volatile memory of the parkingticket dispenser X.

When the above information has been determined, the parking ticketdispenser X simply prints it on a specific ticket for the user separatefrom the parking ticket that has to be placed behind the windshield ofthe user's vehicle.

In a different embodiment, the location information is printed after theusual parking ticket information; in this case the ticket is in twopre-cut parts and the user has only to separate the two parts of theparking ticket, place one in his car and retain on his person the otherpart, carrying location information.

Of course, depending on the sophistication of the parking ticketdispenser X, the format in which the location information is deliveredmay be more elaborate. Thus if the parking ticket dispenser X has agraphical printer, the location information may take the form of adetailed map of the neighborhood, with the exact location of the parkingticket dispenser X precisely indicated.

The user recovers and retains the ticket carrying the locationinformation. He may then go about his business freely and contentedly,without having to remember where he has parked. Later, when he wishes toreturn to his vehicle, it is sufficient for him to consult the locationinformation on the ticket.

A variant of the embodiment of the invention described communicateslocation information in the form of a code identifying the parkingticket dispenser X. This unique identifier or serial number, runningfrom 1 to the number of pay points constituting the network of paypoints, may be printed instead of or in addition to the locationinformation previously referred to.

Once the location ticket has been printed, the user recovers and retainsit. He may then go about his business freely and contentedly, withouthaving to remember where he has parked.

Later, when he wishes to return to his vehicle, it is sufficient for theuser to go to any parking ticket dispenser Y of the network and selectthe location function using a button or a key of the keypad provided forthis purpose. This function, which may or may not be conditional uponprepayment, then starts execution of the program referred to above.

The program in question then prompts the user to enter the uniqueidentifier of the parking ticket dispenser X printed on the locationticket, by means of a keypad provided for this purpose.

When entry of the unique identifier of the parking ticket dispenser Xhas been completed, the location program uses the unique identifier todetermine the shortest path T_(Y)(X) from the parking ticket dispenser Yto the location of the parking ticket dispenser X and therefore of thevehicle.

This path T_(Y)(X) may be determined by the location program simplyreading in a non-volatile memory of the parking ticket dispenser Y atable supplying the path T_(Y)(X) as a function of the unique identifierof the parking ticket dispenser X.

For example, the table may comprise a simple dictionary giving, for agiven machine Y, and as a function of the identifier of the destinationmachine X, the shortest path to that machine X, in a specific formatthat is not part of the invention. For example, the path could consistof a list of streets to be taken to return to the location of themachine X.

When the path T_(Y)(X) has been determined, the parking ticket dispenserY simply prints it on a ticket for the user. Of course, depending on thesophistication of the parking ticket dispenser Y, the format in whichthe path T_(Y)(X) is delivered may be more elaborate. Thus if theparking ticket dispenser Y has a graphical printer, the path T_(Y)(X)may take the form of a detailed map with the respective locations of theparking ticket dispensers X and Y precisely indicated.

If the user wishes to use a smart card to pay his parking fee, anothervariant of the embodiments of the invention described above consists inusing this medium to locate the vehicle, whether the card in question isa memory card, a microcircuit card, of the contact or contactless type,and used to make the payment or not.

Accordingly, in this variant of the method of the present invention,offered by way of illustration, the parking ticket dispenser X storesits unique identifier in the memory or a dedicated file of the user'ssmart card at a given stage of the process of the user paying hisparking fee.

At the end of the payment step, the user recovers his smart card. He maythen go about his business freely and contentedly, without having toremember where he has parked. Later, when he wishes to return to hisvehicle, it is sufficient for the user to go to the nearest parkingticket dispenser Y and select the location function using a button or akey of the keypad provided for this purpose. That function then startsexecution of the program previously cited.

The program in question then prompts the user to insert his smart cardinto the card reader provided for this purpose. Once the smart card hasbeen inserted correctly into the reader, the latter reads the uniqueidentifier of the parking ticket dispenser X in the memory of the smartcard or in the dedicated file.

The unique identifier of the parking ticket dispenser X is then passedto the location program, which uses this information to determine theshortest path T_(Y)(X) from the parking ticket dispenser Y to thelocation of the parking ticket dispenser X and therefore of the vehicle.

The path T_(Y)(X) may be determined by the location program simplyreading in a non-volatile memory of the parking ticket dispenser Y atable providing the path T_(Y)(X) as a function of the unique identifierof the parking ticket dispenser X.

When the path T_(Y)(X) has been determined, the parking ticket dispenserY simply prints it on a ticket for the user. Of course, depending on thesophistication of the parking ticket dispenser Y, the format in whichthe path T_(Y)(X) is delivered may be more elaborate. Thus if theparking ticket dispenser Y has a graphical printer, the path T_(Y)(X)may take the form of a detailed map with the respective locations of theparking ticket dispensers X and Y precisely indicated.

Of course, the embodiments described in detail above are provided by wayonly of illustration of various embodiments of the invention, which isnot limited to those embodiments only.

Thus the present invention relates to any pay point network and not onlyto networks of parking pay points. Accordingly, the present inventionmay be applied to public telephones, transport ticket dispensers,automatic drinks dispensers, etc.

Accordingly, the communication of location and/or guidance information,whether from the machine to the user or from the user to the machine,may employ radio frequency transmission (GSM, WI-FI, etc.). In thisembodiment the machines are equipped with radio-frequency transceivermeans for transferring location and guidance information by radiobetween the machines and a suitable terminal of the user, such as amobile telephone, for example in the form of a voice telephone call, orin the form of a text message such as an SMS text message or an e-mail.

1. System for guiding a user in a network of pay points delivering goodsor services, such as parking ticket dispensers for paying parking fees,said system comprising: a first means for supplying to the userinformation on the location of said machine.
 2. Guidance systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said means for supplying the user withinformation on the location of said machine cooperate with payment meansof said machine so that said location information is not supplied to theuser until a payment for goods or services has been effected at saidmachine.
 3. Guidance system according to claim 1, wherein saidinformation on the location of said machine is a unique identificationcode.
 4. Guidance system according to claim 1, wherein said informationon the location of said machine is printed on a ticket issued byprinting means of said machine.
 5. Guidance system according to claim 1,wherein said machine includes appropriate writing means for transferringsaid information on the location of said machine into the appropriatememories of a contact or contactless type microprocessor card of theuser, such as a payment card.
 6. Guidance system according to claim 1,wherein said machine further comprises appropriate radio-frequencytransmission means for transferring said information on the location ofsaid machine by radio into the memories of a suitable terminal of theuser, such as a mobile telephone, for example in the form of a voicetelephone call, an SMS text message or an e-mail.
 7. Guidance systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said machine includes second means forsupplying guidance information enabling the user to go from said machineto any other machine of said network, said second means includingacquisition means for acquiring information on the location of saidother machine supplied by the user.
 8. Guidance system according toclaim 7, wherein said means for providing guidance information for goingfrom said machine to any other machine of said network cooperate withpayment means of said machine so that said guidance information issupplied to the user only after a payment for a service of this kind hasbeen effected at said machine.
 9. Guidance system according to claim 7,wherein said acquisition means of said machine includes a man-machineinterface, such as a keypad, on which said user may enter information onthe location of said other machine to which he wishes to go. 10.Guidance system according to of claim 7, wherein said acquisition meansof said machine includes a microprocessor card reader for recoveringsaid information on the location of said other machine in theappropriate memories of a contact or contactless type microprocessorcard of the user, such as a payment card.
 11. Guidance system accordingto any one of claim 7, wherein said acquisition means of said machineincludes appropriate radio-frequency receiving means for downloading byradio said information on the location of said other machine from asuitable communication terminal of the user, such as a mobile telephone,for example in the form of an SMS message.
 12. Guidance system accordingto claim 7, wherein said guidance information for going to said othermachine is printed on a ticket issued by printing means of said machine.13. Guidance system according to claim 7, wherein said guidanceinformation for going to said other machine is displayed on anappropriate screen of said machine.
 14. Guidance system according toclaim 7, wherein said guidance information for going to said othermachine is communicated by voice synthesis means of said machine. 15.Guidance system according to claim 7, wherein said machine includesappropriate radio-frequency transmitting means for sending said guidanceinformation for going to said other machine to a suitable terminal ofthe user, such as a mobile telephone, for example in the form of a voicetelephone call, an SMS text message or an e-mail.
 16. Guidance systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said location information and/or saidguidance information comprises the address of said machine.
 17. Guidancesystem according to claim 1, wherein said location and/or guidanceinformation comprises a map of the neighborhood of said machine. 18.Guidance system according to claim 7, wherein said guidance informationfurther comprises a description of one or more paths to said othermachine from said machine.
 19. Guidance system according to claim 7,wherein said guidance information further comprises a map of one or morepaths to said other machine from said machine.